Someone New In Her Life
by SveaR
Summary: A letter Jess received leaves Becker dealing with his feelings for the young field-coordinator. But it seems that he has stuck to his rules for too long.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **  
**As some of you know, I am super good friends in real life with another author here, Cehsja. We usually tend to have a lot in common (other than the fact that we live on different continents, which is decidedly inconvenient at times). So much so that we often seem to read each other's minds on things. SO... when we both emailed each other the first chapter of our new stories, we shouldn't have been surprised one bit at the one major element of similarity. We wrote these without consulting each other and neither are a copy of the others. The plots and pairings are different so we really hope that you read and enjoy both anyway :) **

Jess turned around in her bed and signed. Whenever she closed her eyes his picture appeared in her mind: his lopsided smile, the way his hair slightly fell into his face and those dark eyes of his.

She had looked at so many pictures before she had gone to bed in the evening. She had planned on giving herself some time to think about it before she made up her mind, but it was Eduard she couldn't forget about. He wasn't quite what she had been looking for, he was younger then she had planned on, but it seemed her heart had made up its mind.

Sensing that she wouldn't find sleep at the moment anyway, Jess got up and trotted through her flat. She made herself a cup of tea and settled in front of her computer.

It didn't take long until she found Eduard again. She quickly filled out the form, added a personal message and sent it all off.

With a smile on her face she leaned back in her chair and took a sip from the hot beverage. Yes, she had done the right thing. It was time to make a change.

* * *

Six weeks later Jess chatted excitingly with Connor and Abby when Becker entered the hub. The head of security stepped closer to follow the conversation. Jess' face lit up as she told them about someone called Eduard and the sweet letter she had received from him the day before.

While Jess was filled with joy and amazement, Becker tensed up visibly as the brunette went on about Eduard's letter.

The soldier's reaction didn't go unnoticed by Abby. The blonde shot him a bemused look. She had learned to read the soldier like a book. The way he frowned with an expression of concentration on his face and darkened eyes told her that Becker was trying hard to figure out who Eduard was. Yet she knew he wouldn't outright ask Jess.

"Who's Eduard?" Becker asked Abby when he met her in the corridors alone, a good half hour later.

Abby smiled innocently, "Why don't you ask Jess? I'm sure she'll tell you if you only ask her."

"Abby, I have to know!" The soldier had planted himself in front of the blonde.

"Why? For security reasons?" Abby teased, she ducked past Becker with a grin and left him standing in the corridor.

Becker stared after the blonde. He suppressed the urge to follow her, to ask Abby again who Eduard was. He knew the consequences too well; Abby would tell Connor and the couple wouldn't let him live it down. They would use every opportunity to tease him about it.

Instead, the Head of Security turned on his heels and headed straight to the armory for some shooting training.

For the following few days, Becker tried to forget about the other man in Jess' life, but he couldn't get the image out of his mind.

Eventually Becker faced the truth. He was sitting in the dark flat with a beer in his hands overlooking the city from his apartment, when he admitted it to himself: he was jealous and he wanted to be the man at Jess' side.

But even though he had finally accepted his feelings for the young field coordinator, he had a problem. He was too late; he simply had missed his chance. Now there was Eduard. And he was obviously important to Jess, measured by her expressions when she talked about him. Jess had found someone new.

By the time Becker arrived at the ARC the next morning, he had made up his mind. He wouldn't interfere with their relationship. It wouldn't be fair. After all Abby had told him long ago that he should make a move and that Jess was head over heels for him. He hadn't listened; he had stuck by his rule to never get involved with a teammate and now he would have to live with that.

As the weeks passed, Becker noticed that Jess still seemed to enjoy his little assiduities. Whenever he brought her chocolate, Jess rewarded him with her beaming smile. And she kept up her visits in the armory. Instead of using the internal email-program, she came around to tell him about information Lester wanted her to pass on or to remind Becker of a report he needed to hand in.

But Becker had also recognized that Jess hadn't mentioned Eduard in a while. When the team returned to the ARC after an anomaly alert, Becker lingered around the ADD until everyone had turned in their black-boxes.

"How is Eduard?" he asked bluntly when the others had left the hub.

Surprise written on her face, Jess turned to him, "Good, I hope. I haven't heard from him in a while."

Becker couldn't believe it, obviously Eduard took Jess for granted and didn't treat her the way she deserved.

Without thinking it over the Captian moved a little closer to Jess and lowered his voice. "Jess, if Eduard doesn't treat you the right way, you don't have to wait for him. He should value you. You are a brilliant woman and you only deserve the best."

As Becker went on, confusion spread over Jess' face. Eventually, with a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips, Jess interrupted the solider. "Becker, who do you think Eduard is?"

The Captain stepped back a little at the unexpected question. "Your boyfriend," he said hesitantly.

Jess bit her lower lip to stop herself from laughing. She tilted her head a little and tried to gauge Becker's reaction.

"Eduard is six years old. He lives in Nicaragua and is my sponsored child."


	2. Chapter 2

Becker stared at Jess for a moment and then brought some more distance between them. He felt stupid and for a second he wouldn't have minded if the ground opened up to swallow him. But, being a soldier, Becker straightened his shoulders a little more. "Sorry, I shouldn't have lectured you." He then turned around to leave.

"Becker," Jess' voice was soft and caused the Captain to look at her once more. "Thanks for worrying about me." Becker nodded quickly before he continued on his way out of the hub. He felt embarrassed.

A few days after the incident, the door to the armory flew open and Jess appeared with a piece of paper in her hands.

"Look Becker, I got another letter from Eduard!" She exclaimed happily. "Do you wanna read it? I mean you don't have to, I could tell you what he wrote, if you want to know what he wrote, that is."

"Jess, you ramble," Becker said with a smirk, "But, yes I would like to read it."

He looked at her a little longer than necessary when she handed him the letter. He caught her eyes and didn't let go until the familiar blush crept up on her cheeks. He stared at her when she quickly averted her gaze and lowered her head so he couldn't see her blush.

Now that he knew there was no other man at her side, he was honestly considering pushing his self-made rules out the window and finally asking her out. And in moments like this, with the soft pink covering her cheeks, it was even more tempting to the soldier. But Becker being Becker, he quickly pushed that thought away and concentrated on the writing in his hands.

In the corner of his eyes, he saw Jess looking back up when the color had left her face. Expectation was radiating from her as she waited for his reaction to the letter.

Half way through the letter, Becker suddenly looked up. "Eduard has never been to a zoo?"

Jess' face fell, "Yes, isn't that sad? Here it's so common to go to the zoo with children and he has never had the chance yet." Silence spread over the armory as they both hung on their own thoughts.

"I wish I could take him some day," Jess said eventually.

Jess had just finished her special 'day-off-breakfast' of pancakes and chocolate sauce when the doorbell rang.

Checking her peephole first, Jess found Becker standing on the threshold. With a bewildered expression, she opened the door.

Before the field-coordinator could say anything, Becker announced. "We're going to the zoo."

"What?"

"We are going to the zoo, Jessica." Sensing that she wouldn't get answers to the questions running through her mind, Jess grabbed her coat, bag and keys and followed Becker to his car.

"I was researching yesterday. You are allowed to send little gifts to Eduard, so I thought we could make him a little photo book about the zoo," Becker finally explained his unusual behavior, as he guided the car through the London traffic. He felt Jess' eyes on him, but didn't avert his gaze from the streets.

"Thanks. But why?"

"Why not?" Becker asked right back.

"Because it's weird. You don't normally show up at my door just because you decided you want to take me somewhere. We have never done anything together outside from work actually, besides our team-nights out or lunch every now and then. You are not the person to simply get out of bed and decide that today you want to go to the zoo with me, and especially not without giving me a forewarning. There has to be a reason." Her tone was friendly, no silent reproach between the lines and Becker had to admit she was right. He was not acting his normal self, but for the first time he didn't mind going out of his comfort zone and he hoped they'd have a great day ahead.

"You are right," Was the only thing close to an answer Jess got.

The rest of the drive passed in comfortable silence and the pair fell into a playful banter as they strolled through the zoo.

It was when Jess took photos of the wallabies that Becker asked the question that had been bothering him since he found out who Eduard was.

"Why didn't you ever tell me about Eduard?"

Jess put down the camera and faced him, "You never asked." After a short break she added, "And I wasn't sure what you would think about it. I know some people are lost on stuff like that. I always thought about sponsoring a child, but was never sure about which charity to pick. I mean there are so many. Then on our ARC Christmas Dinner I was talking to Mrs. Lester and she brought up the topic. I told her that I thought about helping a child too and she told me about the organization they chose." Jess leaned against the barrier, holding Becker's gaze. "Amanda is their third child they sponsor. Mrs Lester even visited her two years back, and they never had any inconveniences with the charity."

Jess started to walk to the next pen, "I found myself going through the list of children that night and wondered how to pick one. Suddenly there was this little guy, he had the most lopsided smile I've ever seen. I just couldn't forget about him, he simply stood out to me."

Becker hadn't taken his eyes from her while she spoke and he noticed how her cheeks turned pink.

"He reminded me of you," she added, her voice barely above a whisper and she looked anywhere but him. Instead of commenting on the woman's confession, Becker placed a hand on the small of her back and guided Jess to the Komodo dragons.

With a quick gesture, Becker took the camera from Jess, "Come on, let's get a picture of you and the dragons. I'm sure Eduard would love to see you in some of the pics too."

The fact that Becker didn't mind to have a picture of Jess on his camera, was something he kept to himself.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: So here is the last chapter of this little story. It's a whole lot shorter than the other two, but I hope you enjoy it anyways.

Thanks everyone for reading and reviewing, it really means a lot.

* * *

Becker sat on a bench and watched Jess. The brunette wandered through the zoo shop in search for a little gift she could send Eduard with the photo book. While Jess was occupied, Becker recalled the day.

Three days ago, going to the zoo was the last thing on the soldier's mind, but he had enjoyed himself; had enjoyed the time with Jess.

He had the chance to listen to Jess' endless chatter, to watch her taking photo after photo, to see the excitement in her eyes and, most of all, to be near her without getting weird comments from the rest of the team. Yes, spending time with Jess was worth doing something unusual.

The urge to throw his rules away had grown bigger over the day. He just had no idea how, he had never been good with words, but actions didn't seem appropriate.

Still deep in his thoughts, Becker didn't see Jess approaching him. It wasn't until she let herself flop down beside him that he snapped back to reality. "That was a lovely day Becker," she exclaimed.

"Yes, it really was." Honesty shone through his voice.

Becker drove Jess back to her flat and when he stopped the car, the young woman turned towards him. Her expression told the Head of Security that Jess was struggling with what she wanted to say. She began to fumble with her bag and looked down. "Would you like to come in?" she spoke hastily. "I mean, the photos are all on your camera and I will print them real quick so I can make the photo book today. And you could take the camera back home today. You could have a cup of tea, or coffee while you wait. Or you could even help me choose the photos, not that you have to, but..."

"Jessica, take a breath." Becker placed his hand on hers. 'And listen to her cute rambling,' He added silently to the list of pros this day had offered him. "I would love to help you choose the photos." Jess face lit up and her eyes sparkled.

Hours later, with a finished photo book lying on the table in the living room, Becker bid his farewell. Jess saw him to the door, but instead of leaving straight away Becker turned around to her. "Thank you for joining me today. I know it was unexpected," he winked, "and maybe not very me, but I hope you had as much fun as I did."

Jess giggled at his self-mockery. "I actually liked that side of you. I had a wonderful time and the idea of the photo book was great. It wouldn't have crossed my mind to go to the zoo and take pictures for Eduard." She tiptoed up and gave Becker a peck on the cheek. "Thank you."

Becker stared at the woman in front of him, still feeling her warm lips on his skin. Without balancing pros and cons, Becker placed an arm around Jess' waist and brushed his lips against hers. He felt Jess tensing slightly before she relaxed into his touch. He could feel her smile under his lips.

The kiss sent butterflies through his body.

"You are welcome," he said when he pulled apart. Instead of bringing distance between them, which is what Jess expected him to do, Becker kept her in his arms a little longer. "We should do that more often," the soldier whispered into Jess' ear, causing a shiver to run down her spine.

Still pleasantly shocked by the kiss, Jess watched Becker when he went to his car minutes later. Before he got into the car, he turned around once more and called out, "Oh and Jess, tell Eduard I said hello, and that it was my idea with the photos. I have to make a good first impression."

* * *

"Jess, you got mail!" Becker called out when he stepped into her flat after his morning jog.

The bedroom door flew open and Jess appeared in one of Becker's black t-shirts, her hair still messy from the night.

"From Eduard?" Her voice cracked in anticipation.

Becker shrugged his shoulders and held the letter out to his girlfriend, who grabbed the envelope and settled down on the sofa. "He got the photo book," Jess announced.

Becker followed her lead and sat down beside Jess, who cuddled into his side straight away. He kissed her head lightly. "I'm glad you sponsored him."

"Me too."


End file.
